The £40m genius transfer that would see Liverpool fight for Premier League title again

Alexis Mac Allister has arrived, and a few more midfielders seem likely to follow - Khéphren Thuram, most likely, perhaps Ryan Gravenberch, Franck Kessié, Manu Koné or Moisés Caicedo, depending on who you choose to believe. The much-needed rejuvenation of Liverpool’s midfield is well underway, and it looks like Jürgen Klopp is getting some of his side’s key manoeuvres sorted out early as the Reds look to put a difficult season firmly in the rear-view mirror.

Which is all well and good – young talent slowly replacing old hands is the way this work should be done, and Liverpool’s failure to reach the 2023/34 Champions League can be partially blamed on not getting the process started quickly enough on their current team. Now Naby Keïta and James Milner are gone, while some fresh competition for Fabinho and Jordan Henderson comes through the door. But while the midfield was perhaps the area where the decay was most evident, it can’t be the start and end of the update. The defence needs sorting out too.

Liverpool shipped 47 Premier League goals this season – compared to just 26 in their last league campaign. Virgil van Dijk is visibly not quite the player he once was, Joe Gomez hasn’t stepped up as far as had been hoped, Joël Matip is as likely to be brilliant as he is bad, and Trent Alexander-Arnold, for all he offers in attack, has always been something of a liability at the back. Besides – he may be more of a midfielder now.

If defensive reinforcements aren’t brought in, then many of the same problems that Liverpool suffered from last season will simply surface again and again. They’ve been linked with a few defenders, but nothing concrete has yet emerged – Kim-Min Jae has been mentioned but seems more likely to go to Manchester United, the gifted Marc Guéhi’s name has cropped up, Torino defender Perr Schuurs has been suggested. It’s the fourth centre-back who’s been tipped to take a trip to Merseyside that we think could be the best bet of the lot, however – Sporting Lisbon’s Gonçalo Inácio.

The name may well send some immediate shudders down the spine of any Arsenal supporters reading – it was Inácio’s header that levelled the scores in Lisbon on the night that Mikel Arteta’s men were knocked out of the Europa League. A week later, the Portuguese centre-half, who will be 22 by the time the new season starts, earned his first senior international cap in a European Championship Qualifier against Liechtenstein. He was linked with Manchester United last summer, and his stock has only risen since.

Despite his young age, he has already notched up 125 appearances for Sporting, playing either centrally or on the right of a back three – and he looks ready to take the next step in his career. The first thing that jumps out when watching him play are his ball skills – he’s incredibly confident with the ball at his feet, even by the standards of the modern centre-back. His passing range is exceptional – he boasts just under 90% completion despite playing nearly 90 passes per game, more than almost anyone else in his position in Europe – and his dribbling perhaps even better.

He’s not a purely defensive force – he’s a creator, and perhaps the closest thing to a central-defensive equivalent of Alexander-Arnold. He makes a frankly showy 11 progressive plays per match, taking the ball forward or sparking moves from deep positions, and his heat maps show him ranging from the edge of the area to the halfway line and beyond in game after game.

Like Alexander-Arnold, he does have some faults as a defender – especially in the air. His success rate in aerial duels has improved this past season, but at just a shade over six feet, he’s still far from dominant against high balls. He would need to partner someone like Van Dijk to avoid creating a glaring hole in the Liverpool defence. He’s also not at the top level when it comes to winning the ball in one-on-one situations, but makes up for his deficiencies by being a superb reader of the game, and his positioning and pace off the ball means he hoovers up plenty of interceptions. He defends from the front – closing the ball down and shutting passes off at the root rather than dealing with plays after an attacker has received the ball.

That makes him a pretty perfect fit for the way Klopp loves to play – between his ball skills and aptitude for playing in a high press, he’s exactly the right man if you want to play a little heavy metal football. There’s a comparison to be made with Croatian international Joško Gvardiol – but he’d cost about half the cash, thanks to his €45m release clause (approximately £40m).

At that price, and given what a good fit he’d be for Liverpool, you’d think he should be a priority signing for the Reds this summer. He has some rough edges to smooth off – what 21-year-old defender doesn’t? – but he’d be able to learn from one of the best in the business while he gears up to be the kind of man who plays just about every game, which he already does for Sporting.

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Inácio is a quality player and looks likely to become something close to world class before too long. Someone will trigger that release clause before too long – and Klopp should be making sure he’s at the front of the queue. If the rumour mill is right, he may have already cottoned on.